Environmental Studies

What is an ecosystem?

Learn what an ecosystem is, how energy and matter move through ecosystems, and
what makes an ecosystem stable.

Key points

 An ecosystem consists of a community of organisms together with their physical

environment.

 Ecosystems can be of different sizes and can be marine, aquatic, or terrestrial.

Broad categories of terrestrial ecosystems are called biomes.

 In ecosystems, both matter and energy are conserved. Energy flows through the
system—usually from light to heat—while matter is recycled.

 Ecosystems with higher biodiversity tend to be more stable with greater

resistance and resilience in the face of disturbances, disruptive events.

Introduction

What do a tide pool on the California coast and the Amazon rainforest of South America
have in common? Despite being many orders of magnitude different in size, both are
examples of ecosystems—communities of organisms living together in combination with
their physical environment.

As a reminder, a community consists of all the populations of all the species that live
together in a particular area. The concepts of ecosystem and community are closely
related—the difference is that an ecosystem includes the physical environment, while a
community does not. In other words, a community is the biotic, or living, component of
an ecosystem. In addition to this biotic component, the ecosystem also includes an
abiotic component—the physical environment.
Ecosystems can be small, such as the tide pools found near the rocky shores of many
oceans, or very large, such as the Amazon Rainforest in South America. It's basically up
to the ecologist studying the ecosystem to define its boundaries in a way that makes
sense for their questions of interest.

What are ecosystems like?

The short answer: incredibly diverse! Not only can ecosystems vary in size, but they can
also differ in just about every imaginable biotic or abiotic feature.

Some ecosystems are marine, others freshwater, and others yet terrestrial—land based.
Ocean ecosystems are most common on Earth, as oceans and the living organisms they
contain cover 75% of the Earth's surface. Freshwater ecosystems are the rarest, covering
only 1.8% of the Earth's surface. Terrestrial, land, ecosystems cover the remainder of
Earth.

Terrestrial ecosystems can be further grouped into broad categories called biomes,
based largely on climate. Examples of terrestrial biomes include tropical rain forests,
savannas, deserts, coniferous forests, deciduous forests, and tundra. The map below
shows the broad distribution of biomes on Earth.

Even within a biome, there can be great diversity. For example, both the Sonoran desert,
on the left, and the interior of the island of Boa Vista, on the right, can be classified as
deserts, but they have very different ecological communities. Many more species of
plants and animals live in the Sonoran desert.
Energy and matter in ecosystems

Ecosystem ecologists are often most interested in tracing the movement of energy and
matter through ecosystems.

We’ll take a closer look at the movement of energy and matter when we consider food
webs, networks of organisms that feed on one another, and biogeochemical cycles, the
pathways taken by chemical elements as they move through the biosphere. The
organisms found in an ecosystem tend to have adaptations, beneficial features arising
by natural selection, that help them get energy and matter in the context of that
particular ecosystem.

Before we get into details, though, let’s look at the key features of how energy and
matter travel through ecosystems. Both energy and matter are conserved, neither
created nor destroyed, but take different routes through ecosystems:

 Matter is recycled; the same atoms are reused over and over.

 Energy flows through the ecosystem, usually entering as light and exiting as heat.

Matter is recycled.
Matter is recycled through Earth’s ecosystems—though it may move from one
ecosystem to another as it does when nutrients are washed away into a river1^11start
superscript, 1, end superscript. The same atoms are used over and over again,
assembled into different chemical forms and incorporated into the bodies of different
organisms.

As an example, let’s see how chemical nutrients move through a terrestrial ecosystem. A
land plant takes in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and other nutrients, such as
nitrogen and phosphorous, from the soil to build the molecules that make up its cells.
When an animal eats the plant, it uses the plant’s molecules for energy and as building
material for its own cells, often rearranging atoms and molecules into new forms.
When plants and animals carry out cellular respiration—break down molecules as fuel
—carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. Similarly, when they excrete waste or
die, their chemical compounds are used for energy and building material by bacteria
and fungi. These decomposers release simple molecules back into the soil and
atmosphere, where they can be taken up anew in the next round of the cycle.

Image credit: based on similar image by J. A. Nilsson2^22start superscript, 2, end

superscript

Thanks to this recycling, the atoms that make up your body right now have long, unique
histories. They’ve most likely been part of plants, animals, other people, and even
dinosaurs3^{3}3start superscript, 3, end superscript!

Energy flow is unidirectional, or one-way.

Energy, unlike matter, cannot be recycled in ecosystems. Instead, energy flow through an
ecosystem is a one-way street—generally, from light to heat.

Energy usually enters ecosystems as sunlight and is captured in chemical form by

photosynthesizers like plants and algae. The energy is then passed through the
ecosystem, changing forms as organisms metabolize, produce waste, eat one another,
and eventually, die and decompose.

Each time energy changes forms, some of it is converted to heat. Heat still counts as
energy—and thus no energy has been destroyed—but it generally can't be used as an
energy source by living organisms. Ultimately, energy that entered the ecosystem as
sunlight is dissipated as heat and radiated back into space.
This one-way flow of energy through ecosystems means that every ecosystem needs a
constant supply of energy, usually from the sun, in order to function. Energy can be
passed between organisms, but it cannot be recycled because some of it is lost as heat in
each transfer.

Stability and dynamics of ecosystems

Ecosystems are dynamic systems, and a static ecosystem would be a dead ecosystem—
just as a static cell would be a dead cell. As we discussed above, energy is constantly
flowing through an ecosystem and chemical nutrients are continually being recycled. At
higher levels of organization, organisms are dying and being born, populations are
fluctuating in their numbers, and climate patterns are varying seasonally and in less
predictable ways.

Equilibrium and disturbance

Equilibrium is the steady state of an ecosystem, in which its composition and identity
remain generally constant despite fluctuations in physical conditions and the makeup of
the biotic community. Ecosystems may be knocked out of equilibrium by disturbances,
disruptive events that affect their composition.
Some disturbances are a result of natural processes. For example, fire is a disturbance
that can be caused by lightning in a prairie or forest ecosystem. Other disturbances are
the result of human activities. Examples include acid rainfall, deforestation, algal
blooms, and the introduction of invasive species.

Different ecosystems may respond differently to the same disturbance; one may recover
rapidly, and another may recover more slowly—or not at all.

Resistance and resilience

Ecosystem resistance and resilience are important when we consider the effects of
disturbances caused by human activity. If a disturbance is severe enough, it may change
an ecosystem beyond the point of recovery—push the ecosystem into a zone where it is
no longer resilient. A disturbance of this sort could lead to permanent alteration or loss
of the ecosystem.

Food chains & food webs

How food chains and food webs represent the flow of energy and matter. Trophic levels and
efficiency of energy transfer.

Key points:
 Producers, or autotrophs, make their own organic molecules. Consumers, or
heterotrophs, get organic molecules by eating other organisms.

 A food chain is a linear sequence of organisms through which nutrients and energy
pass as one organism eats another.

 In a food chain, each organism occupies a different trophic level, defined by how
many energy transfers separate it from the basic input of the chain.

 Food webs consist of many interconnected food chains and are more realistic
representation of consumption relationships in ecosystems.

 Energy transfer between trophic levels is inefficient—with a typical efficiency around

10%. This inefficiency limits the length of food chains.
Introduction
Organisms of different species can interact in many ways. They can compete, or they can be
symbionts—longterm partners with a close association. Or, of course, they can do what we so
often see in nature programs: one of them can eat the other—chomp! That is, they can form
one of the links in a food chain.
In ecology, a food chain is a series of organisms that eat one another so that energy and
nutrients flow from one to the next. For example, if you had a hamburger for lunch, you
might be part of a food chain that looks like this: grass →\rightarrow→right arrow cow
→\rightarrow→right arrow human. But what if you had lettuce on your hamburger? In that
case, you're also part of a food chain that looks like this: lettuce →\rightarrow→right arrow
human.
As this example illustrates, we can't always fully describe what an organism—such as a
human—eats with one linear pathway. For situations like the one above, we may want to use
a food web that consists of many intersecting food chains and represents the different things
an organism can eat and be eaten by.
In this article, we'll take a closer look at food chains and food webs to see how they represent
the flow of energy and nutrients through ecosystems.

Autotrophs vs. heterotrophs

What basic strategies do organisms use to get food? Some organisms, called autotrophs, also
known as self-feeders, can make their own food—that is, their own organic compounds—out
of simple molecules like carbon dioxide. There are two basic types of autotrophs:

 Photoautotrophs, such as plants, use energy from sunlight to make organic

compounds—sugars—out of carbon dioxide in photosynthesis. Other examples of
photoautotrophs include algae and cyanobacteria.

 Chemoautotrophs use energy from chemicals to build organic compounds out of

carbon dioxide or similar molecules. This is called chemosynthesis. For instance,
there are hydrogen sulfide-oxidizing chemoautotrophic bacteria found in undersea
vent communities where no light can reach.

Autotrophs are the foundation of every ecosystem on the planet. That may sound dramatic,
but it's no exaggeration! Autotrophs form the base of food chains and food webs, and the
energy they capture from light or chemicals sustains all the other organisms in the
community. When we're talking about their role in food chains, we can call autotrophs
producers.
Heterotrophs, also known as other-feeders, can't capture light or chemical energy to make
their own food out of carbon dioxide. Humans are heterotrophs. Instead, heterotrophs get
organic molecules by eating other organisms or their byproducts. Animals, fungi, and many
bacteria are heterotrophs. When we talk about heterotrophs' role in food chains, we can call
them consumers. As we'll see shortly, there are many different kinds of consumers with
different ecological roles, from plant-eating insects to meat-eating animals to fungi that feed
on debris and wastes.

Food chains
Now, we can take a look at how energy and nutrients move through a ecological community.
Let's start by considering just a few who-eats-who relationships by looking at a food chain.
A food chain is a linear sequence of organisms through which nutrients and energy pass as
one organism eats another. Let's look at the parts of a typical food chain, starting from the
bottom—the producers—and moving upward.

 At the base of the food chain lie the primary producers. The primary producers are
autotrophs and are most often photosynthetic organisms such as plants, algae, or
cyanobacteria.

 The organisms that eat the primary producers are called primary consumers. Primary
consumers are usually herbivores, plant-eaters, though they may be algae eaters or
bacteria eaters.

 The organisms that eat the primary consumers are called secondary consumers.
Secondary consumers are generally meat-eaters—carnivores.

 The organisms that eat the secondary consumers are called tertiary consumers.
These are carnivore-eating carnivores, like eagles or big fish.

 Some food chains have additional levels, such as quaternary consumers—carnivores

that eat tertiary consumers. Organisms at the very top of a food chain are called apex
consumers.

We can see examples of these levels in the diagram below. The green algae are primary
producers that get eaten by mollusks—the primary consumers. The mollusks then become
lunch for the slimy sculpin fish, a secondary consumer, which is itself eaten by a larger fish,
the Chinook salmon—a tertiary consumer.
In this illustration, the bottom trophic level is green algae, which is the primary producer. The
primary consumers are mollusks, or snails. The secondary consumers are small fish called
slimy sculpin. The tertiary and apex consumer is Chinook salmon.
Each of the categories above is called a trophic level, and it reflects how many transfers of
energy and nutrients—how many consumption steps—separate an organism from the food
chain's original energy source, such as light. As we’ll explore further below, assigning
organisms to trophic levels isn't always clear-cut. For instance, humans are omnivores that
can eat both plants and animals.

Decomposers
One other group of consumers deserves mention, although it does not always appear in
drawings of food chains. This group consists of decomposers, organisms that break down
dead organic material and wastes.
Decomposers are sometimes considered their own trophic level. As a group, they eat dead
matter and waste products that come from organisms at various other trophic levels; for
instance, they would happily consume decaying plant matter, the body of a half-eaten
squirrel, or the remains of a deceased eagle. In a sense, the decomposer level runs parallel to
the standard hierarchy of primary, secondary, and tertiary consumers.
Fungi and bacteria are the key decomposers in many ecosystems; they use the chemical
energy in dead matter and wastes to fuel their metabolic processes. Other decomposers are
detritivores—detritus eaters or debris eaters. These are usually multicellular animals such as
earthworms, crabs, slugs, or vultures. They not only feed on dead organic matter but often
fragment it as well, making it more available for bacterial or fungal decomposers.

Decomposers as a group play a critical role in keeping ecosystems healthy. When they break
down dead material and wastes, they release nutrients that can be recycled and used as
building blocks by primary producers.

Food webs
Food chains give us a clear-cut picture of who eats whom. However, some problems come up
when we try and use them to describe whole ecological communities.
For instance, an organism can sometimes eat multiple types of prey or be eaten by multiple
predators, including ones at different trophic levels. This is what happens when you eat a
hamburger patty! The cow is a primary consumer, and the lettuce leaf on the patty is a
primary producer.
To represent these relationships more accurately, we can use a food web, a graph that shows
all the trophic—eating-related—interactions between various species in an ecosystem. The
diagram below shows an example of a food web from Lake Ontario. Primary producers are
marked in green, primary consumers in orange, secondary consumers in blue, and tertiary
consumers in purple.
The bottom level of the illustration shows primary producers, which include diatoms, green
algae, blue-green algae, flagellates, and rotifers. The next level includes the primary
consumers that eat primary producers. These include calanoids, waterfleas, cyclopoids,
rotifers and amphipods. The shrimp also eat primary producers. Primary consumers are in
turn eaten by secondary consumers, which are typically small fish. The small fish are eaten
by larger fish, the tertiary consumers. The yellow perch, a secondary consumer, eats small
fish within its own trophic level. All fish are eaten by the sea lamprey. Thus, the food web is
complex with interwoven layers.
In food webs, arrows point from an organism that is eaten to the organism that eats it. As the
food web above shows, some species can eat organisms from more than one trophic level. For
example, opossum shrimp eat both primary producers and primary consumers.
Bonus question: This food web contains the food chain we saw earlier in the article—green
algae →\rightarrow→right arrow mollusks →\rightarrow→right arrow slimy sculpin
→\rightarrow→right arrow salmon. Can you find it?

Grazing vs. detrital food webs

Food webs don't usually show decomposers—you might have noticed that the Lake Ontario
food web above does not. Yet, all ecosystems need ways to recycle dead material and wastes.
That means decomposers are indeed present, even if they don't get much air time.
For example, in the meadow ecosystem shown below, there is a grazing food web of plants
and animals that provides inputs for a detrital food web of bacteria, fungi, and detritovores.
The detrital web is shown in simplified form in the brown band across the bottom of the
diagram. In reality, it would consist of various species linked by specific feeding interactions
—that is, connected by arrows, as in the grazing food web aboveground. Detrital food webs
can contribute energy to grazing food webs, as when a robin eats an earthworm.
The bottom level of the illustration shows decomposers, which include fungi, mold,
earthworms, and bacteria in the soil. The next level above decomposers shows the producers:
plants. The level above the producers shows the primary consumers that eat the producers.
Some examples are squirrels, mice, seed-eating birds, and beetles. Primary consumers are in
turn eaten by secondary consumers, such as robins, centipedes, spiders, and toads. The
tertiary consumers such as foxes, owls, and snakes eat secondary and primary consumers. All
of the consumers and producers eventually become nourishment for the decomposers.
Original image credits: fox is a modification of work by Kevin Bacher, NPS; owl is a
modification of work by John and Karen Hollingsworth, USFWS; snake is a modification of
work by Steve Jurvetson; robin is a modification of work by Alan Vernon; frog is a
modification of work by Alessandro Catenazzi; spider is a modification of work by

Energy transfer efficiency limits food chain lengths

Energy is transferred between trophic levels when one organism eats another and gets the
energy-rich molecules from its prey's body. However, these transfers are inefficient, and this
inefficiency limits the length of food chains.
When energy enters a trophic level, some of it is stored as biomass, as part of organisms'
bodies. This is the energy that's available to the next trophic level since only energy storied as
biomass can get eaten. As a rule of thumb, only about 10% of the energy that's stored as
biomass in one trophic level—per unit time—ends up stored as biomass in the next trophic
level—per the same unit time. This 10% rule of energy transfer is a good thing to commit
to memory.
As an example, let's suppose the primary producers of an ecosystem store 20,000
kcal/m2^22start superscript, 2, end superscript/year of energy as biomass. This is also the
amount of energy per year that's made available to the primary consumers, which eat the
primary producers. The 10% rule would predict that the primary consumers store only 2,000
kcal/m2^22start superscript, 2, end superscript/year of energy in their own bodies, making
energy available to their predators—secondary consumers—at a lower rate.
This pattern of fractional transfer limits the length of food chains; after a certain number of
trophic levels—generally three to six, there is too little energy flow to support a population at
a higher level.
Trophic pyramid illustrating the 10% energy transfer rule.
Light energy is captured by primary producers.
Amount of energy stored as biomass:
Primary producers—20,000 kcal per meter squared per year
Primary consumers—2,000 kcal per meter squared per year
Secondary consumers—200 kcal per meter squared per year
Tertiary consumers—20 kcal per meter squared per year
Quaternary consumers—2 kcal per meter squared per year
At each level, energy is lost directly as heat or in the form of waste and dead matter that go to
the decomposers. Eventually, the decomposers metabolize the waste and dead matter,
releasing their energy as heat also.
Why does so much energy exit the food web between one trophic level and the next? Here are
a few of the main reasons for inefficient energy transfer1,2^{1,2}1,2start superscript, 1,
comma, 2, end superscript:

 In each trophic level, a significant amount of energy is dissipated as heat as organisms

carry out cellular respiration and go about their daily lives.

 Some of the organic molecules an organism eats cannot be digested and leave the
body as feces, poop, rather than being used.

 Not all of the individual organisms in a trophic level will get eaten by organisms in
the next level up. Some instead die without being eaten.

The feces and uneaten, dead organisms become food for decomposers, who metabolize them
and convert their energy to heat through cellular respiration. So, none of the energy actually
disappears—it all winds up as heat in the end.

biogeochemical cycles
Get an overview of how atoms are recycled through Earth's ecosystems via biogeochemical
cycles.
Key points

 Energy flows through an ecosystem and is dissipated as heat, but chemical elements
are recycled.

 The ways in which an element—or compound such as water—moves between its

various living and nonliving forms and locations in the biosphere is called a
biogeochemical cycle.

 Biogeochemical cycles important to living organisms include the water, carbon,

nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur cycles.

water cycle
Key points

 The vast majority of Earth's water is saltwater found in oceans. Only a tiny fraction is
readily accessible freshwater, which is what humans need.

 Water found at the Earth's surface can cycle rapidly, but much of Earth's water lies in
ice, oceans, and underground reservoirs; this water cycles slowly.

 The water cycle is complex and involves state changes in water as well as the physical
movement of water through and between ecosystems.

 Groundwater is found underground between soil particles and in cracks of rocks.

Aquifers are groundwater reservoirs often tapped by wells.

Water cycle

The water cycle is driven by the Sun’s energy. The sun warms the ocean surface and other
surface water, causing liquid water to evaporate and ice to sublime—turn directly from a
solid to a gas. These sun-driven processes move water into the atmosphere in the form of
water vapor.
Over time, water vapor in the atmosphere condenses into clouds and eventually falls as
precipitation, rain or snow. When precipitation reaches Earth's surface, it has a few options:
it may evaporate again, flow over the surface, or percolate—sink down—into the ground.
In land-based, or terrestrial, ecosystems in their natural state, rain usually hits the leaves and
other surfaces of plants before it reaches the soil. Some water evaporates quickly from the
surfaces of the plants. The water that's left reaches the soil and, in most cases, will begin to
move down into it.
In general, water moves along the surface as runoff only when the soil is saturated with
water, when rain is falling very hard, or when the surface can't absorb much water. A non-
absorbent surface could be rock in a natural ecosystem or asphalt or cement in an urban or
suburban ecosystem.

Water evaporates form the ocean surface and forms clouds by condensation. Water in clouds
may fall as precipitation over either the land or the sea. Clouds formed over the sea may
move over the land. When rain falls over the land, it may flow along the surface, infiltrate the
soil—move into it from above ground—and percolate through the soil, moving downward to
become groundwater. Groundwater in upper levels may flow into rivers, lakes, or oceans.
Water near the soil surface may be taken up by plants and move out of their bodies through
transpiration from the leaves. Snowmelt runoff and sublimation of snow and ice are other
processes that contribute to the water cycle.

carbon cycle
Key points
 Carbon is an essential element in the bodies of living organisms. It is also economically
important to modern humans, in the form of fossil fuels.

 Carbon dioxide—CO2\text {CO}_2CO2C, O, start subscript, 2, end subscript—from the

atmosphere is taken up by photosynthetic organisms and used to make organic molecules,
which travel through food chains. In the end, the carbon atoms are released as CO2\text
{CO}_2CO2C, O, start subscript, 2, end subscript in respiration.

 Slow geological processes, including the formation of sedimentary rock and fossil fuels,
contribute to the carbon cycle over long timescales.

 Some human activities, such as burning of fossil fuels and deforestation, increase
atmospheric CO2\text{CO}_2CO2C, O, start subscript, 2, end subscript and affect Earth's
climate and oceans.

The carbon cycle is most easily studied as two interconnected sub cycles:
  One dealing with rapid carbon exchange among living organisms

 One dealing with long-term cycling of carbon through geologic processes

biological carbon cycle

Carbon enters all food webs, both terrestrial and aquatic, through autotrophs, or self-feeders.
Almost all of these autotrophs are photosynthesizers, such as plants or algae.

geological carbon cycle

The geological pathway of the carbon cycle takes much longer than the biological pathway described
above. In fact, it usually takes millions of years for carbon to cycle through the geological pathway.
Carbon may be stored for long periods of time in the atmosphere, bodies of liquid water—mostly
oceans— ocean sediment, soil, rocks, fossil fuels, and Earth’s interior.

Human impacts on the carbon cycle

Global demand for Earth’s limited fossil fuel reserves has risen since the beginning of the Industrial
Revolution. Fossil fuels are considered a nonrenewable resource because they are being used up
much faster than they can be produced by geological processes.

nitrogen cycle
Key points
 Nitrogen is a key component of the bodies of living organisms. Nitrogen atoms are
found in all proteins and DNA\text{DNA}DNAD, N, A.
  Nitrogen exists in the atmosphere as N2\text N_2N2N, start subscript, 2, end subscript
gas. In nitrogen fixation, bacteria convert N2\text N_2N2N, start subscript, 2, end
subscript into ammonia, a form of nitrogen usable by plants. When animals eat the
plants, they acquire usable nitrogen compounds.

 Nitrogen is a common limiting nutrient in nature, and agriculture. A limiting nutrient

is the nutrient that's in shortest supply and limits growth.

 When fertilizers containing nitrogen and phosphorus are carried in runoff to lakes and
rivers, they can result in blooms of algae—this is called eutrophication.

Bacteria play a key role in the nitrogen cycle.

Nitrogen enters the living world by way of bacteria and other single-celled prokaryotes,
which convert atmospheric nitrogen—N2\text N_2N2N, start subscript, 2, end subscript—
into biologically usable forms in a process called nitrogen fixation. Some species of nitrogen-
fixing bacteria are free-living in soil or water, while others are beneficial symbionts that live
inside of plants.
Nitrogen-fixing microorganisms capture atmospheric nitrogen by converting it to ammonia—
NH3\text {NH}_3NH3N, H, start subscript, 3, end subscript—which can be taken up by
plants and used to make organic molecules. The nitrogen-containing molecules are passed to
animals when the plants are eaten. They may be incorporated into the animal's body or
broken down and excreted as waste, such as the urea found in urine.

Nitrogen doesn't remain forever in the bodies of living organisms. Instead, it's converted from
organic nitrogen back into N2\text N_2N2N, start subscript, 2, end subscript gas by bacteria.
This process often involves several steps in terrestrial—land—ecosystems. Nitrogenous
compounds from dead organisms or wastes are converted into ammonia—NH3\text
{NH}_3NH3N, H, start subscript, 3, end subscript—by bacteria, and the ammonia is
converted into nitrites and nitrates. In the end, the nitrates are made into N2\text N _2N2N,
start subscript, 2, end subscript gas by denitrifying prokaryotes.
Nitrogen cycling in marine ecosystems
So far, we’ve focused on the natural nitrogen cycle as it occurs in terrestrial ecosystems.
However, generally similar steps occur in the marine nitrogen cycle. There, the
ammonification, nitrification, and denitrification processes are performed by marine bacteria
and archaea.

Nitrogen as a limiting nutrient

In natural ecosystems, many processes, such as primary production and decomposition, are
limited by the available supply of nitrogen. In other words, nitrogen is often the limiting
nutrient, the nutrient that's in shortest supply and thus limits the growth of organisms or
populations.
How do we know if a nutrient is limiting? Often, this is tested as follows:3^33start
superscript, 3, end superscript

 When a nutrient is limiting, adding more of it will increase growth—e.g., it will cause
plants to grow taller than if nothing were added.

 If a non-limiting nutrient is instead added, it won't have an effect—e. g., plants will
grow to the same height whether the nutrient is present or absent.

UNIT – 2

1. Natural Resources
Natural Resources: A natural resource is defined as a form of energy and/or matter
which is essential for the functioning of organisms, populations and ecosystems.

A natural resource refers to any form of energy or matter essential for the fulfillment of
physiological, socio-economic and cultural needs, both at the individual level and that of
the community. Life on our planet earth depends upon a large number of things and
services provided by the nature, which are known as natural resources. Water, air, soil,
minerals, coal, forests, crops and wild life are all the examples of natural resources. The
basic ecological variables- energy, space, time and diversity are sometimes combined
called natural resources. These natural are maintaining ecological balance among
themselves.

Classification of natural resources: According to Odum (1971), natural resources can be

divided into two categories such as (1) renewable and (2) Non renewable resources.

1. Renewable resources:

The resources that can be replenished through rapid natural cycles are known as
renewable resource. These resources are able to increase their abundance through
reproduction and utilization of simple substances.

2. Non-Renewable Resources:

The resources that cannot be replenished through natural processes are known as non-
renewable resources. These are available in limited amounts, which cannot be
increased. These resources include fossil fuels, metals, minerals and salts

. Once a non-renewable resource is consumed, it is gone forever. Then we have to find a

substitute for it or do without it.

Non-renewable resources can further be divided into two categories, viz. a) re-cycle able
and b) non-recyclable

a) Recyclable: These are non-renewable resources, which can be collected after they
are used and can be recycled. These are mainly the non-energy mineral resources, which
occur in the earth’s crust and deposits of fertilizer nutrients.

b) Non-recyclable: These are non-renewable resources, which cannot be recycled in

any way.

Examples of these are fossil fuels and uranium, which provide 90 per cent of our energy
requirements.

1. Forest Resources:
It is a dense growth of trees, together with other plants, covering a large area of land.
Forests are one of the most natural resources on this earth. Covering the earth like a
green blanket these forests not only produce innumerable material goods, but also
provide several environmental services which are essential for life. About 1/3rd of the
world’s land area is forested which includes closed as well as open forests.

Uses of forests: Commercial Uses:

Forests provide a large number of commercial goods which include timber, firewood,
pulpwood, food items, gum, resins, non-edible oils, rubber, fibers, lace, bamboo canes,
fodder, medicine, drugs and many more items. Half of the timber cut each year is used as
fuel for heating and cooking. Wood harvest is used for building materials as lumber,
plywood and hardwood, particle board and chipboard and some portions converted into
pulp and used for paper industry. Many forest lands are used for mining, agriculture,
grazing, and recreation and for development of dams.

Ecological uses:

1. Production of oxygen: The trees produce oxygen by photosynthesis which is so vital

for life on this earth. They are rightly called as earth’s lungs.

2. Reducing global warming: The main greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) is absorbed
by the forests as a raw material for photosynthesis. Thus forest can acts as a sink for
CO2 thereby reducing the problem of global warming caused by greenhouse gas i.e. CO2.

3. Wild life habitat: Forests are the homes of millions of wild animals and plants. About 7
million species are found in the tropical forests alone.

4. Regulation of hydrological cycle: Forested watersheds act like giant sponges,

absorbing the rainfall, slowing down the runoff and slowly releasing the water for
recharge of springs. About 50-80% of the moisture in the air above tropical forests
comes from their transpiration which helps in bringing rains.

5. Soil Conservation: Forests bind the soil particles tightly in their roots and prevent soil
erosion. They also act as windbreaks.

6. Pollution moderators: Forests can absorb many toxic gases and can help in keeping
the air pure and clean. They have also been reported to absorb noise and thus help in
preventing air and noise pollution.

Over exploitation of forests:

Since time immemorial, humans have depended heavily on forests for food, medicine,
shelter, wood and fuel. With growing civilization the demands for raw material like
timber, pulp, minerals, fuel wood etc. shooted up resulting in large scale logging, mining,
road-building and clearing of forests. Our forests contribute substantially to the national
economy. Excessive use of fuel wood and charcoal, expansion of urban, agricultural and
industrial areas and overgrazing have together led to over exploitation of our forests
leading to their rapid degradation.

Deforestation:

The total forest area of the world in 1990 was estimated to be 7000 million hectares
which was reduced to 2890 million hectares in 1975 and fell down to just 2300 million
hectares by 2000. Deforestation rate is relatively less intemperate countries, but it is
very alarming in tropical countries where it is as high as 40-50 percent and at the
present rate is it estimated that in the next 60years we would lose more than 90 percent
of our tropical forests. The forested area in India seems to have stabilized since 1982
with about 0.04% decline annually between 1982-90.

Major causes of Deforestation:

1.Shifting cultivation : There are an estimated 300 million people living as shifting
cultivators who practice slash and burn agriculture and are supported so clear more
than 5 lakh ha of forests for shifting cultivation annually. In India, we have this practice
of North-East and to some extent in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and M.P. which contribute to
nearly half of the forest clearing annually.

2. Fuel requirements: Increasing demands for fuel wood by the growing population in
India alone has shooted up.

3. Raw materials for industrial use: Wood for making boxes, furniture, railway-sleepers,
plywood, match boxes, pulp for paper industry etc. have exerted tremendous pressure
on forests.

4. Development projects: Massive destruction of forests occur for various development

projects like hydroelectric projects, big dams, road construction, mining etc.

5. Growing food needs: To meet the demands of rapidly growing population, agricultural
lands and settlements are created permanently by clearing forests.

6. Overgrazing: Loss of tree cover and the cleared lands are turned into the grazing
lands. Overgrazing by the cattle leads to further degradation of these lands.

Major consequences of deforestation:

1. It threatens the existence of many wild life species due to destruction of their natural
habitat.

2. Biodiversity is lost and along with that genetic diversity is eroded.

3. Hydrological cycle gets affected, thereby influencing rainfall.

4. Problems of soil erosion and loss of soil fertility increase.

5. In hilly areas it often leads to landslides.

Effect of timber Extraction:

Timber is the major resource of forest. The pre and post independent periods of India
observed recorded use of timber for various applications like furniture, doors, windows,
roofing, flooring etc. Till 1990, wood is used as fuel energy in rural India, to an extent of
50%. At present the consumption is reduced, due to imposition of ban on cutting
valuable trees.

Paper boards and Newsprint also consume much of our wood. With increasing
population growth our per capita consumption of paper is likely to increase from 2 kg to
4.5 kg per year.

They are several interconnected effects of timber extraction and fuel wood cutting on
forests and tribal people. They are

i. Thinning of forests,

ii. Loss of biodiversity, especially the tree breeding birds,

iii. Soil erosion and loss of fertility,

iv. Loss of tribal culture

v. Migration of tribal people in search of new forests and

vi. Extinction of tribal people.

Effect of mining

Mining is process of removing deposits of ores from the substantially very well below
the ground level. Mining operations for extracting minerals and fossils fuels like coal
often involves vast forest areas.

Types: Surface mining: - shallow deposits Sub – Surface Mining: - deep deposits.

Effects:

i. Clear cutting of forests leads to deforestation ,

ii. Formation of acid mine drainage in case of coal mining,

iii. Soil erosion and loss of water resources

iv. Land sliding and loss of fauna and flora.

Example: i. Large scale deforestation has been reported in Missori hills due to in
discriminate mining of various minerals over the length of 40 km.
Dams and their effects:

Dams and valley are projected as “Temples of modern India”. However, these dams are
also responsible for the destruction of vast areas of forests. Big dams have been in sharp
focus of various environmental groups all over the world which is mainly because of
several ecological problems including deforestation and socio-economic problems
related to tribal or native people associated with them.

E.g., The Silent valley hydroelectric project was one of the first such projects situated in
the tropical rain forest area of Western Ghats which attracted much concern of the
people. The cause of Sardar Sarovar Dam related issues have been taken up by the
environmental activitist Medha Patkar, joined by Arundhati Ray and BabaAmte. For
building big dams, large scale devastation of forests takes place which breaks the
natural ecological balance of the region. Floods, droughts and landslides become more
prevalent in such areas. Forests are the repositories of invaluable gifts of nature in the
form of biodiversity and by destroying them. These species could be having marvelous
economic or medicinal value and deforestation results in loss of this storehouse of
species which have evolved over millions of years in a single stroke.

Water resources:

Water is an indispensable natural resource on this earth on which all life depends. About
97% of the earth’s surface is covered by water and most of the animals and plants have
60-65% water in their body. Water is characterized by certain unique features which
make it a marvelous resource:

•It exists as a liquid over a wide range of temperature i.e. from 0 to 100 C.

• It has the highest specific heat, due to which it warms up and cools down very slowly
without causing shocks of temperature jerks to the aquatic life.

• It has high latent heat of vaporization. Hence, it takes huge amount energy for getting
vaporized. That’s why it produces a cooling effect as it evaporates.

• It is in an excellent solvent for several nutrients. Thus, it can serve as a very good
carrier of nutrients, including oxygen, which are essential for life. But it can also easily
dissolve various pollutants and become a carrier of pathogenic microorganisms.

•Due to high surface tension and cohesion it can only easily rise through great heights
through the trunk even in the tallest of the trees like Sequoia.

•It has anomalous expansion behaviour i.e. as it freezes; it expands instead of

contracting and thus becomes lighter. It is because of this property that even in extreme
cold, the lakes freeze only on the surface. Being lighter the ice keeps floating, whereas
the bottom waters remain at a higher temperature and therefore, can sustain aquatic
organisms even in extreme cold. The water we use keeps on cycling endlessly through
the environment, which we call as Hydrological Cycle. We have enormous resources of
water on earth amounting to 1404 million km³. The water from various moist surfaces
evaporates and falls again on the earth in the form of rain or snow and passes through
living organisms and ultimately returns to oceans. Every year about 1.4inch thick layer
of water evaporates from the oceans more than 90% of which returns to the oceans
through the hydrological cycle. Solar energy drives the water cycle by evaporating it
from various bodies, which subsequently return through rainfall or snow. Plants too play
a very vital role by absorbing the groundwater from the soil and releasing it into the
atmosphere by process of transpiration.

Water use and over-exploitation:

Due to its unique properties water is of multiple uses for all living organisms. Water is
absolutely essential for life. Most of the life processes take place in water contained in
the body. Uptake of nutrients, their distribution in the body, regulation of temperature,
and removal of wastes are all mediated through water. Water use by humans is of two
types:

1. Water withdrawal: taking water from groundwater or surface water resource and
2.Water consumption: the water which is taken up but not returned for reuse.

Overuse of groundwater for drinking, irrigation and domestic purposes has resulted in
rapid depletion of groundwater in various regions leading to lowering of water table and
drying of wells.

Pollution of many of the groundwater aquifers has made of these wells unfit for
consumption. Rivers and streams have long been used for discharging the wastes. Most
of the civilizations have grown and flourished on the banks of rivers, but unfortunately,
growth in turn has been responsible for pollution of the rivers.

Flood

A flood is an overflow or accumulation of an expanse of water that submerges land. In

the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide.
Flooding may result from the volume of water within a body of water, such as a river or
lake, which overflows or breaks levies, with the result that some of the water escapes its
normal boundaries. While the size of a lake or other body of water will vary with
seasonal changes in precipitation and snow melt, it is not a significant flood unless such
escapes of water endanger land areas used by man like a village, city or other inhabited
area.

Droughts

A drought is an extended period of months or years when a region notes a deficiency in

its water supply. Generally, this occurs when a region receives consistently below
average precipitation. It can have a substantial impact on the ecosystem and agriculture
of the affected region. Although droughts can persist for several years, even a short,
intense drought can cause significant damage] and harm the local economy. This global
phenomenon has a widespread impact on agriculture. The United Nations estimates that
an area of fertile soil the size of Ukraine is lost every year because of drought,
deforestation, and climate instability.[3] Lengthy periods of drought have long been a
key trigger for mass migration and played a key role in a number of ongoing migrations
and other humanitarian crises in the Horn of Africa and the Sahel.

Types of drought

As a drought persists, the conditions surrounding it gradually worsen and its impact on
the local population gradually increases. People tend to define droughts in three main
ways:

1. Meteorological drought is brought about when there is a prolonged period with less
than average precipitation. Meteorological drought usually precedes the other kinds of
drought.

2. Agricultural droughts are droughts that affect crop production or the ecology of the
range. This condition can also arise independently from any change in precipitation
levels when soil conditions and erosion triggered by poorly planned agricultural
endeavors cause a shortfall in water available to the crops. However, in a traditional
drought, it is caused by an extended period of below average precipitation.

Hydrological drought is brought about when the water reserves available in sources
such as aquifers, lakes and reservoirs fall below the statistical average. Hydrological
drought tends to show up more slowly because it involves stored water that is used but
not replenished. Like an agricultural drought, this can be triggered by more than just a
loss of rainfall. For instance, Kazakhstan was recently awarded a large amount of money
by the World Bank to restore water that had been diverted to other nations from the
Aral Sea under Soviet rule. Similar circumstances also place their largest lake, Balkhash,
at risk of completely drying out.

Food resources:

There are thousands of edible plants and animals over the world out of which only
about three dozen types constitute major food of humans. The main food resources
include wheat, rice, maize, potato, barley, oats etc. about twenty or so common fruits
and vegetables, milk, meat, fish and seafood.

World food problems: Every year food problem is killing as many people as were killed
by the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima during World War II. This shows that there
is drastic need to increase food production, equitably distribute it and also to control
population growth. Food problems are directly related to population. Because of
overgrazing the agricultural land gets affected as follows, it results into:

• Land degradation •Soil erosion

•Loss of useful species Agriculture also makes impact on the usage of land generally as
follows:

•Deforestation •Soil Erosion •Depletion of nutrients.

Impact of modern agriculture is as follows:

•Impact related to high yielding varieties (HYV)

•Fertilizers related problems include micronutrient imbalance, nitrite pollution,

eutrophication

Pestide related problems include creating resistance in pests and producing new pests,
death of non-target organisms, biological magnification. Some other problems include
water logging, salinity problems and such others.

Energy resources:

Energy consumption of a nation is usually considered as an index of its development.

This is because almost all the development activities are directly or indirectly dependent
upon energy. There are wide disparities in per capita energy use between developed and
the developing nations. The very original form of energy technology probably was the
fire, which produced heat and the early man used it for cooking and heating purposes.
Wind and hydropower has also been used. Invention of steam engineers replaced the
burning of wood by coal and coal was further replaced by oil. The oil producing has
started twisting arms of the developed as well as developing countries by dictating the
prices of oil and other petroleum products.

Energy resources are primarily divided into two categories viz. renewable and non-
renewable sources. Renewable energy resources must be preferred over the non-
renewable resources. This will seek to end the energy crisis which the world is facing
today. It is inevitable truth that now there is an urgent need of thinking in terms of
alternative sources of energy, which are also termed as non-conventional energy sources
which include:

3. Non Renewable Energy

Non-renewable energy comes from sources that will run out or will not be replenished
in our lifetimes—or even in many, many lifetimes.

Most non-renewable energy sources are fossil fuels: coal, petroleum, and natural gas.
Carbon is the main element in fossil fuels. For this reason, the time period that fossil
fuels formed (about 360-300 million years ago) is called the Carboniferous Period

Coal
 Coal is a black or brownish rock. We burn coal to create energy. Coal is ranked
depending on how much “carbonization” it has gone through. Carbonization is the
process that ancient organisms undergo to become coal. About 3 meters (10 feet) of
solid vegetation crushed together into .3 meter (1 foot) of coal!

Peat is the lowest rank of coal. It has gone through the least amount of carbonization. It
is an important fuel in areas of the world including Scotland, Ireland, and Finland.

Anthracite is the highest rank of coal. Anthracite forms in regions of the world where
there have been giant movements of the earth, such as the formation of mountain
ranges. The Appalachian Mountains, in the eastern part of the United States, are rich in
anthracite.

We mine coal out of the ground so we can burn it for energy. There are two ways that
we can mine coal: underground mining and surface mining.

Underground mining is used when the coal is located below the surface of the Earth,
sometimes 300 meters (1,000 feet) deep—that’s deeper than most of the Great Lakes!
Miners take an elevator down a mineshaft. They operate heavy machinery that cuts the
coal out of the Earth and brings it above ground. This can be dangerous work because
cutting coal can release dangerous gases. The gases can cause explosions or make it
hard for miners to breathe.

Surface mining is used when the coal is located very near the surface of the earth. To get
to the coal, companies must first clear the area. They take away the trees and soil. The
coal can then be cut out of the ground more easily. Entire habitats are destroyed during
this process.

About half the electricity in the United States comes from coal. It gives power to our
lights, refrigerators, dishwashers, and most other things we plug in. When coal is
burned, it leaves “byproducts” that are also valuable. We use the byproducts to make
cement, plastics, roads, and many other things.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Coal is a reliable source of energy. We can rely on it day and night, summer and winter,
sunshine or rain, to provide fuel and electricity.

Using coal is also harmful. Mining is one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. Coal
miners are exposed to toxic dust and face the dangers of cave-ins and explosions at
work.

When coal is burned, it releases many toxic gases and pollutants into the atmosphere.
Mining for coal can also cause the ground to cave in and create underground fires that
burn for decades at a time.
Petroleum

Petroleum is a liquid fossil fuel. It is also called oil or crude oil.

Petroleum is trapped by underground rock formations. In some places, oil bubbles right
out of the ground. At the LaBrea Tar Pits, in Los Angeles, California, big pools of thick oil
bubble up through the ground. Remains of animals that got trapped there thousands of
years ago are still preserved in the tar!

Most of the world’s oil is still deep under the ground. We drill through the earth to
access the oil. Some deposits are on land, and others are under the ocean floor.

Once oil companies begin drilling with a “drill rig,” they can extract petroleum 24 hours
a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. Many successful oil sites produce oil for about
30 years. Sometimes they can produce oil for much longer.

When oil is under the ocean floor, companies drill offshore. They must build an oil
platform. Oil platforms are some of the biggest manmade structures in the world!

Once the oil has been drilled, it must be refined. Oil contains many chemicals besides
carbon, and refining the oil takes some of these chemicals out.

We use oil for many things. About half of the world’s petroleum is converted into
gasoline. The rest can be processed and used in liquid products such as nail polish and
rubbing alcohol, or solid products such as water pipes, shoes, crayons, roofing, vitamin
capsules, and thousands of other items.

Advantages and Disadvantages

There are advantages to drilling for oil. It is relatively inexpensive to extract. It is also a
reliable and dependable source of energy and money for the local community.

Oil provides us with thousands of conveniences. In the form of gasoline, it is a portable

source of energy that gives us the power to drive places. Petroleum is also an ingredient
in many items that we depend on.

However, burning gasoline is harmful to the environment. It releases hazardous gases

and fumes into the air that we breathe. There is also the possibility of an oil spill. If there
is a problem with the drilling machinery, the oil can explode out of the well and spill into
the ocean or surrounding land. Oil spills are environmental disasters, especially offshore
spills. Oil floats on water, so it can look like food to fish and ruin birds’ feathers.

Natural Gas

Natural gas is another fossil fuel that is trapped underground in reservoirs. It is mostly
made up of methane. You may have smelled methane before. The decomposing material
in landfills also release methane, which smells like rotten eggs.
 There is so much natural gas underground that it is measured in million, billion, or
trillion cubic meters.

Natural gas is found in deposits a few hundred meters underground. In order to get
natural gas out of the ground, companies drill straight down. However, natural gas does
not form in big open pockets. Natural gas is trapped in rock formations that can stretch
for kilometers.

To reach natural gas, some companies use a process called “hydraulic fracturing,” or
fracking. Hydraulic means they use water, and fracturing means to “split apart.” The
process uses high-pressure water to split apart the rocks underground. This releases the
natural gas that is trapped in rock formations. If the rock is too hard, they can send acid
down the well to dissolve the rock. They can also use tiny grains of glass or sand to prop
open the rock and let the gas escape.

We use natural gas for heating and cooking. Natural gas can also be burned to generate
electricity. We rely on natural gas to give power to lights, televisions, air conditioners,
and kitchen appliances in our homes.

Natural gas can also be turned into a liquid form, called liquid natural gas (LNG). LNG is
much cleaner than any other fossil fuels.

Liquid natural gas takes up much less space than the gaseous form. The amount of
natural gas that would fit into a big beach ball would fit into a ping-pong ball as a liquid!
LNG can be easily stored and used for different purposes. LNG can even be a
replacement for gasoline.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Natural gas is relatively inexpensive to extract, and is a “cleaner” fossil fuel than oil or
coal. When natural gas is burned, it only releases carbon dioxide and water vapor
(which are the exact same gases that we breathe out when we exhale!) This is healthier
than burning coal.

However, extracting natural gas can cause environmental problems. Fracturing rocks
can cause mini-earthquakes. The high-pressure water and chemicals that are forced
underground can also leak to other sources of water. The water sources, used for
drinking or bathing, can become contaminated and unsafe.

Other Non-renewable Energy Sources

Fossil fuels are the leading non-renewable energy sources around the world. There are
others, however.

Nuclear Energy
Nuclear energy is usually considered another non-renewable energy source. Although
nuclear energy itself is a renewable energy source, the material used in nuclear power
plants is not.

Nuclear energy harvests the powerful energy in the nucleus, or core, of an atom.
Nuclear energy is released through nuclear fission, the process where the nucleus of an
atom splits. Nuclear power plants are complex machines that can control nuclear fission
to produce electricity.

The material most often used in nuclear power plants is the element uranium. Although
uranium is found in rocks all over the world, nuclear power plants usually use a very
rare type of uranium, U-235. Uranium is a non-renewable resource.

Nuclear energy is a popular way of generating electricity around the world. Nuclear
power plants do not pollute the air or emit greenhouse gases. They can be built in rural
or urban areas, and do not destroy the environment around them.

However, nuclear energy is difficult to harvest. Nuclear power plants are very
complicated to build and run. Many communities do not have the scientists and
engineers to develop a safe and reliable nuclear energy program.

Nuclear energy also produces radioactive material. Radioactive waste can be extremely
toxic, causing burns and increasing the risk for cancers, blood diseases, and bone decay
among people who are exposed to it.

Biomass Energy

Biomass energy, a renewable energy source, can also be a non-renewable energy source.
Biomass energy uses the energy found in plants.

Biomass energy relies on biomass feedstocks—plants that are processed and burned to
create electricity. Biomass feedstocks can include crops such as corn or soy, as well as
wood. If people do not replant biomass feedstocks as fast as they use them, biomass
energy becomes a non-renewable energy source.

Renewable Energy

It should be clear how most of these sources fit the definition of renewable energy
("resources that rely on fuel sources that restore themselves over short periods of time
and do not diminish"), and have various benefits and drawbacks:

 Solar energy comes directly from the sun, which comes every day in most
locations and does not diminish appreciably over time. Yes, the intensity does
ebb and flow on short and long timescales, but it is hopefully not going away
anytime soon. If the sun burns out and stops shining, we have bigger problems
than solar panels not working! A few benefits of solar energy are that it is
relatively predictable and reliable, and that it is does not create any
 emissions/pollution when generating energy. The main drawback is that it is
intermittent, both in terms of the sun only being in the sky 50% of the time, and
that weather can impact it significantly. Solar is also very diffuse, meaning that it
is not very concentrated, and so usually a large area is required to provide a lot of
useful energy.

 The wind gets its energy from the sun - it is caused mostly by differential heating
across the surface of the earth - so cannot be "used up" either. More good news is
that the wind will never disappear as long as the sun shines and the earth is
spherical, and like solar, wind does not generate emissions. However, the wind is
also variable - more in some locations than others - and is less predictable than
solar energy in most locations.

 Hydropower gets its energy from the sun as well, and is even more consistent in
most locations than the wind. I want you to think for a moment how the energy
in moving water started out as solar energy. (This is a good thought experiment
in energy conversion.) Answer: Remember that water flows downhill, and so the
motion energy in flowing water started out as gravitational potential energy. How
does water get this potential energy, i.e. how does it get uphill? Mostly from
evaporation caused by the sun! In terms of other benefits, like solar and wind,
hydropower does not generate emissions, and is very consisent and reliable in
most locations. There are some drawbacks associated with large hydropower
installations (see here for some examples), and in some cases, very big
environmental and social drawbacks (e.g. in the Three Gorges Dam in China). All
of these factors are important to keep in mind. Hydroelectricity is the single
biggest source of renewable electricity in the world.

 One additional drawback of all of the above sources is that they are each location-
specific. In other words, some locations may have a lot of sun, wind, and/or
hydro, while others may have very little. (This will be address in more detail in a
future lesson.) This problem can be at least partially solved by transporting
electricity, but that is not always easy, and often expensive.